(EN Server) W10 CLEARING GUIDE FOR DUMMIES

(Last update: 31.05.2019)

IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR FEEDBACK, DM ME IN DISCORD HelenWTF#2680
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FIRST-TIME CLEARING W10:

Okay, rule of thumb for W10 is flagship survival and overall fleet's consistency in damage. BB\BC flagship is mandatory, for mob fleet its either 2BB+Healer backline or 1 BB 1 AR 1 Healer backline, for bossfleet it solely depends on chapter you run.

10-1: Biggest issue of the map layout is C3-C4 chokepoint, your boss-fleet will be blocked on moves 3-4-5-6 if you dont move it, so best way to clear 10-1 is: Break C3-C4 blockade, move boss-fleet to D3\D4, if paths on left\right are open, move boss fleet asap to G3\G4 and then proceed to clear 6 battles for a boss to spawn. Your boss fleet will never get blocked by mobs this way, and you will either get boss-spawn right on your boss-fleet or you will need to move it 1 tile up\down. Bossnode has fireboat pain-train in it, you need as much BBs there as possible, and ATLEAST 1 of them should be with CL aux mount, best-in-slot equip is tbtsk since it can pierce pain-train and destroy it before it hits your backline. Try to not face-tank this fireboat train with your frontline, because this is most dangerous thing in 10-1 bossnode. Bosses by themselves are quite tame, they are moving around, Duke of York can help to slow them down, making other BB to aim on them better.

10-2: Clear one of side-lines, move boss fleet through it to E3\E4, clear G-vertical until boss spawns. Bossnode is 1 destroyer boss with 2 CA meatshields, fireboats are still the issue there, but the main damage comes from torpedo spam. You can roflstomp it with barrage BB\BC and Enterprise or 3BB backline, just focus those meatshields asap to get rid of their annoying presence and damage. You could equip your gunboat CAs with 100mm twin to dispatch CA shields faster. ATTENTION: CA SHIELDS STOP DIRECT BARRAGES, IF YOU USE BARRAGE BOATS IN YOUR BOSS FLEET THERE, ITS ADVICABLE TO USE LOBBING BARRAGE, I.E. HOOD, WASHINGTON, DUKE OF YORK. IF YOU REALLY WANT TO USE AMAGI THERE, ITS BEST TO GET HER A 4 IJN COMP TO MAXIMIZE HER SHELLING DAMAGE.

10-3: This map has a quick pathway to the boss area via B3-C3-D3 nodes. Clear it with your mob-fleet, move boss-fleet to E4, it is one of 4 boss spawns, so just leave it there and proceed to clear F3, F4, G4, H4, H5 area to open access to bossnodes in F1-F2-I5 nodes. Bossnode is Yukikaze with 2 BB\BCs. Arguably hardest boss in W10, trick is to not get oneshotted by her torpedo barrage. Use someone with high evasion, you can slap some torpedo buldges on frontliner if you want, for the backline use either 3BB or 2BB+auxilary CV\CVL like Unicorn\illustrious to tank torpedoes. Main task is to kill Yukikaze's buddies asap, otherwise they will wear you down and Yukikaze eventually will oneshot your frontline. Her BB buddies are targeting your backline, so its better to grab some fire extinguishers too. 10-3 has most cancerous layout out of all W10 maps since it gets 4 bosspawns. 3 of them are spawning on E-F upper verticals, so its advicable to clear there. Last one is I-5, pay attention to this node too.

10-4: Place your bossfleet at D4, clear pathways to A1, F1 and I6 boss spawns. Bossnode is Jintsuu, nothing special, she has star-like danmaku and torpedo barrage, but pattern is predictable, so nothing really hard there. Rule of thumb is same as Yukikaze, kill her asap with overwhelming backline damage and dont get hit by torpedo barrage since its practically a oneshot kill. Jintsuu is succeptable to converging torp hits, so using Tenzan\Ryuusei there is adviced.

EVERY BOSS HAS LIGHT ARMOR IN W10. BE ADVICED. 10-2 and 10-3 have heavy armored boss-escorts. Its preferrably to not use torpedo-armed frontline on bosses, since its practically a suicide vs Yukikaze or Jintsuu if you come near them.

SHIPS TO GO WITH IN W10(from best to worst but still viable):

1) TRASH\MOB FLEET;

Flagship: Monarch, Izumo, Bismarck, Tirpitz, Amagi, Nagato, King George V, Washington, Hood, Super-Gamer Kizuna AI, YamaHK, FusoHK, Pennsylvania, Arizona, South Dakota, Oklahoma-kai, Nevada-kai, Kongo, Kirishima, Ise, Nelson, Rodney.

Monarch - Stronger version of Tirpitz in terms of solo-performance, great statline, even greater barrage, nice reload buff and she can actually heal herself. Dont believe too much in it though, heal isnt instant, so you can still die on low HP.

Izumo - Damage output is kinda situational since her barrage is AP, it destroys medium\heavy targets though. Shit load of HP, great FP stat, needs fire extinguisher to live in W10.

Bismarck - Think of her as Tirpitz, but done right. She needs to be in the flagship position to take the most out of her kit, but she provides 3 good things to your fleet in W10 - Great stat steroid for KMS ships, KMS CAs with her buffs become decent frontline choices, her secondaries presence makes clearing map little bit easier, but the cost of it is her decreased fireboat defence, she tends to miss on fireboats far away from her. Her barrage is debatable, damage numbers are almost same as Tirpitz torpedo barrage, but it isnt timegated and has a good 70% proc chance, which makes her salvo damage really strong. Think of it as a bonus package, going with an already good deal. Last great thing about her is that she can be fielded with Tirpitz, giving her bonus +10% damage when fielded together. Gives some bonus damage to GZ too, overall great ship.

Tirpiz - Since the key to W10 completion is consistency in all virtues, Tirpitz is best trash fleet flagship you can have there. Her +30% DMG buff applies not only to main gun, but auxilary armanent and her torp barrage too, making her very effective both vs ships and fireboats. She has great HP pool, heavy armor, and out of all BBs she is the best consistent damage dealer. Another her strength is that her damage output doesnt disappear on 0 ammo, allowing her to be fielded without using AR. Bismarck's addition makes her even stronger, allowing her to be fielded with BB and get out of it +10% more damage on her buff. Still perfectly viable in solo, just not as flexible without having Bismarck availible\in fleet with her.

Amagi - Really strong pick for W10, given her buffs\debuffs and quite stong barrage with AP shells and torpedoes in it, CL secondaries too.

Nagato - Barrage is insanely strong, but low-rolling on it can mess up your clearing. Still, she has good statline, works well with Hyuuga too. Just remember that her command buff requires her to be on the flagship spot, if you will move her from it, she will lose the buff.

King George V - Decent statline, even though her kit makes her be locked into 356 quad, first salvo reload steroid and barrage gives her quite smooth damage curve, consistency is always good. Scales good into later worlds too.

Washington - Doesnt have any fleet comp issues, has consistent timed barrage and good stats overall, however she has DD secondary mount and she falls off REALLY hard on 0 ammo.

Hood - Once she procs her barrage, she will hit that MVP level. Her proc will delete Nagato, optimize healing capabilities of your fleet and ramp up its overall damage output. Without her barrage she doesnt offer much though. Still, a solid pick if you dont have any of the event ships listed above. Viable in both types of fleet comps.

Super Gamer Kizuna AI - Collaboration meme ship that turned out to be a good one. Good statline, 30% crit is insanely good on BBs, shots spread is somewhat bad since you may not be able to one-tap enemy BBs, but AoE clear with crit hits sounds great enough. Scales great with her unique item too. Can mount CL secondaries.

YamashiroHK\FusouHK - Most cost-effective battleships in the game, they have CL secondary mounts, and their shelling damage is really good. They dont offer much durability and special skills though, but each of them can shine when fielded with Hyuuga.

Pennsylvania - Budget Washington, worse statline, but shes got narrower barrage, which really helps when you need to clear Nagato qick and dirty. DD secondaries, poor HP pool.

Arizona - Budget Pennsylvania, but with coinflip heal instead of barrage. Less consistent than any other healer, cant heal herself. Still not a bad pick if your frontline is somehow dying.

South Dakota - Defence-oriented flagship, her only chance to shine with damage is her 30% proc. Too unreliable. DD secondaries too.

Oklahoma-kai - Budget South Dakota, except she doesnt tank, and her AA is shit. Not like AA is needed in W10 though, that makes her quite a decent low-cost pick in W10 clearing\farming runs. The problem lays in her DD aux guns and low-HP pool because of her low rarity. Double damage is low-chance to proc, but when it hits, it hits HARD.

Nevada-kai - Different girl, but performance is indentical to Oklakai.

Kongo - Decent buff, decent stats, however she has BB-oilcost, even though shes BC. Works well with other Kongo-class sisters.

Kirishima - Okay-ish stats, same abysmal oilcost for BC, fun barrage which burns everything on sight. Burn-tick is quite strong and memeable.

Ise - Budget YamaHK. Better base statline, same CL secondary mount, same FP buff, but no HK bonuses, eats 1 oil more. Quite solid pick though.

Nelson\Rodney - Poverty\Desperation picks. They are kinda solid BBs, but they dont offer much too, and their barrage is trash.
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Flagship backup: Tirpitz, Duke of York, Hyuuga-kai, Hyuuga, Ranger-kai, Zeppy, Hiei-chan, North Carolina, Queen Elizabeth, Oklahoma-kai, Nevada-kai, Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, Haruna, Renown.

Tirpitz - Works only when fielded with Bismarck, doesnt provide any utility besides closing Bismarck's secondary close range gap and providing great damage output. Still, one of the greatest pairings in the game atm. Costs a lot of oil though.

Duke of York - Solid BB for 2BB comp, working perfectly both as flagship and support, however flagship spot has too much competition, given all those barrage boats. Her damage amp skill is a pocket Helena, and its timer can be optimized with equip to proc before other damage-dealers. Her first salvo hits like a truck too, and her second position gives her access to gold FCR usage, ofsetting her reload timer to fit in Nagato spawn window.

Hyuuga-kai - Loses +1MGM, auxilary gun mount, gains CQC-barrage, whopping 175% main gun slot efficiency and seaplane mount. Even though she has some sort of defence, she cannot be fielded solo safely. However, shes still stays relevant as a great support ship, her zuiun launch can remove BB shots in air, saving some health to your backline. Damage per shell is ridiculous, but total volley damage is lacking since she loses +1MGM.

Hyuuga - Her buff is great, her stats are great, she can mount CL secondaries. Can work both as flagship and support.

Ranger-kai - Substitute for AR in BB+AR+Healer comp. Her damage is absurd when she procs, her reload makes trash runs really efficient, and she costs not as much oil as AR, shes cheaper than Vestal.

Zeppy - Shes kinda awkward to use since its a barrage CV, and normally you dont field 6 KMS fleets, but her barrage is okay. She can get some value from fielding her with Tirpitz though. Rare occurance of the CV that can protect herself with CL-guns, but you trade 1 dive bomber slot for it.

Hiei-chan - Same thing as Zeppy, too situational to use, her ignition chance reduction is insanely good, but its timed and statline is meh, plus she costs as much as SSR battleship.

North Carolina - Hits hard, but has DD aux guns. Still, shes a very reliable pick for 2BB+Healer comp.

Queen Elizabeth - Best buddy for Hood, if you have no Duke of York. CL secondaries.

Oklahoma-kai\Nevada-kai - Low-cost supports, can have a great impact on their double damage rolls. They dont offer shit to your flagship though, and Hyuuga is arguably a better pick as "low-cost" BB, being 1 oil more expencive than these two.

Scharnhorst\Gneisenau - Poverty picks, technically Scharn should kill Nagato every time she shows up. Her skill is unreliable though, since target aqquisition is random. Gneisenau has nice FP buff. Both can equip CL secondaries.

Haruna - Kongo meme, works as a placeholder for 2BB\BC in your team, but needs too long time to rev up her stat buff.

Renown - Another poverty pick, but her damage on last salvos is absurd. She needs her skill to be leveled though. DD secondaries.
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Healer\Auxilary(AR): Shohou\Shohou-kai, Unicorn, Vestal, Arizona.

Shohou\Shohou-kai - She has both healing and damage, however there could be some problems with tri-force CV nodes in 10-3 and 10-4. Use with caution. 10-1 and 10-2 is no-brainer though, shes more reliable there.

Unicorn - provides heal, anti-air screening and some kind of damage. Provides nice escort reload buff too. Lack of damage tolls on your other ships, especially your flagship.

Vestal - Vestal is bestal in W10 and further. +1 total ammo, 3 healthpacks, emergency heal. The trade-off is that she fills backline spot without dealing any damage to enemy, and if she dies(and she can easily die in 2 fire-salvos from Nagato), you will lose all her healthpacks. You wont lose +1 ammo bonus though, so its kinda fair deal.

Arizona - in case you want BB instead of CVL\AR. Has coinflip heal, so dont expect too much from her. She deals damage though.
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Frontline: Saint Louis, Roon, Neptune, Ibuki, Phoenix, Yukikaze, Mogami-kai, Portland-kai, Minneapolis, Elegant Kizuna AI, Admiral Graf Spee\Deutschland\Nurnberg trio, Chinaball(Ping Hai Kai-Ning Hai Kai-Yat Sen), Laffey-kai, Ayanami-kai, Bel-chan, Astoria, Kagerou, Fubuki, Abukuma-kai, Z23-kai(especicaly Z-trio with Z1 and Z46\Z25), actually any ship with flagship protection skill will do, except Hammann.

Saint Louis - Great all-rounder CA, clearing the map really fast, her strongest points are her damage output and evasion+speed buff.

Roon - VASTLY superior version of Prinz Eugen. Her shields arent much useful in trash fleet, yet her flexibility and damage output with her barrage and shelling is a really scary combo. Bismarck's buff makes her true monster of a ship.

Neptune - Hailed as mega-Phoenix, yet its actually a mega-Edinburgh. Damage output is insane, can heal herself when in a pinch, quite durable too. Really effective barrage, destorying squishy targets.

Ibuki - Shines more in a boss fleet, yet there are some issues too. Not as remarkable all-rounder as Saint Louis is, yet her strong side is being CA with actually useful torpedo assets. Strong enough firepower to kill squishy targets, really strong torpedoes to destroy heavy armored targets.

Phoenix - Most reliable frontline zombie ship in the game. Trick of W10 is that its not that hard hitting on the frontline, so you can perfectly run her solo without any issues. If there are issues, just add another ship to split damage.

Yukikaze - Meme DD, she has the backline protection, backline emergency heal, and her own performance in vanguard is quite good since her blue skill makes her great tank in mob fleet, her torpedoes hurt too. Overall good vanguard pick.

Mogami-kai - CA with +1MGM and decent barrage, when fully stacked, she reaches quite a meme statline too. Although shes an IJN CA, that makes her somewhat frail on early past-100 levels, but she becomes quite able to dodge things on 110 and onwards. Little bit less survivability than Portland-kai\Minneapolis, but a lot more firepower and faster clear.

Portland-kai - Meme-CA with ridiculous statline for a lvl100 cap. Less-affected by class issues than Minneapolis, quite absurd eHP stat, decent damage-dealing capabilites.

Minneapolis - Less reliable, but harder hitting zombie ship in the game. Inherited CA-class issues, those as bad firing angles, poor evasion and shitty healing skill. Should clear faster than Phoenix though. You can equip AP 203mm SKC golden gun on her too to deal with Nagato spawn faster.

Elegant Kizuna AI - Something inbetween Portland-kai and Minneapolis/Mogami-kai in terms of her usage. She needs Kizuna AI fleet to do a lot of damage, sounds like a meme-tier ship, but she got her saving grace with damage-reduction when fielded without collab ships. Very tanky, good scaling with evasion items. Her burn-reduction skill doesnt work properly in W10, but it scales well into W11-W12.

Admiral Graf Spee\Deutschland\Nurnberg trio - Main point of them being here is Bismarck's buff. They are quite good vs squishy targets as it is, but Bismarck's buff gives him enough push forward so they can take on heavy armor quite good too.

Chinaball(Ping Hai Kai\Ning Hai Kai\Yat Sen) - Another meme-frontline comp with an absurd statline and bullshit eva-rate buff. Retrofitted twins hurt A LOT, Yat Sen provides any needed AA on CV nodes and has quite good barrage. More effective than Z-trio in terms of their in-battle impact, but more expencive to use and you need to invest A LOT OF RECOURCES to make them beyond-meme strong.

Laffey-kai - There are some issues with fielding her in solo, but as second ship - why not?

Ayanami-kai - Really good combination of speed and evasion, strong torpedo armanent, speeds up clearing a lot.

Bel-chan - Great utility ship, her damage is kinda lacking without QE in fleet, but she has a lot of value with her smoke and healing.

Astoria - Forming quite strong duo with Minneapolis, yet there are drawbacks in the way that you will face more ambushes because of lack of evasion in your team. Handle with care.

Kagerou - Best Ayanami's buddy.

Fubuki - Another Ayanami's buddy, can be used with together with Kagerou.

Abukuma-kai - Yet another Aya's buddy, can be used together with Kagerou or Fubuki.

Z-trio - Proven to live through W10 and kick some asses too. Z25 option in it is quite helpful with flagship damage-control.
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2)BOSS FLEET:
Flagship: Monarch, Izumo, Amagi, Hood, Washington, Tirpitz, YamaHK, FusoHK, Hyuuga-kai, Hyuuga.
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Other backline: Duke of York, Battleship Kaga, Queen Elizabeth, Super Gamer Kizuna AI, Renown, Hyuuga, Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, South Dakota, Enterprise, Akagi\Kaga, Saratoga(and her kai), Illustrious, Shoukaku\Zuikaku.

Using Enterprise, Shoukaku\Zuikaku and Akagi\Kaga is adviced in 10-2 and plausible in further maps, 10-1 is no-no.

You can use Bakaga instead of CV Kaga if you have only Akagi\if you want more precision fire on bosses. Procs foxes paired skill.

Saratoga(kai) - Bomber oriented CV, barrage helps to clear meatshields in 10-2\10-3, deals quite a lot of damage to Jintsuu in 10-4. Her kai makes her even more stronger than before, ticking damage add in numbers almost as the second airstrike.

Illustrious - Just in case if your frontline cant live through torpedo spam.

Super Gamer Kizuna AI - Somewhat random to use, just like her influencer, Jean Bart. You just stick her into your fleet if you need a lot of damage on crit and pray that it will work...somehow.
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Frontline: Saint Louis, Roon, Neptune, Ibuki, Helena, Kawakaze, Yukikaze, Edinburgh, Belfast, Leander-kai, Sirius, Laffey-kai, Cleveland, Wichita, Suffolk-kai, Chicago, Portland-kai, Houston, Elegant Kizuna AI, Atago, Takao, Furutaka-kai, Kako-kai, Prinz Eugen, Admiral Hipper.

Saint Louis - Shes legit useful everywhere. Doesnt provide any utility, but good DPS\survivability.

Roon - Great bullet-danmaku defence via her shields, flexible, shines in a long battle. Great survivability. Bismarck's buff gives her insane stat boost too.

Neptune - Even though shes kinda locked into AP, her barrage is actually good versus lightly armored targets, so she will be fine practically everywhere. Gets QE buff bonus too.

Ibuki - Really shines only on 10-4 with her torpedoes, other bossnodes are DDs. Still, quite good CA pick for a boss fleet.

Helena - Its given, T0 in boss-fleet for a reason. However, tends to die a lot in 10-3 and 10-4. Handle with care.

Kawakaze - 3 out 4 bosses in W10 are light armored, Kawakaze's torps doesnt care about it. Her buff is quite a waste in W10, since only Jintsuu is a cruiser and there is little to no value for it, yet its still good addition ensure fast clear of minions before the actual bossfight.

Yukikaze - Really good for backline-heavy maps like 10-1 or 10-3, can help in emergency with her healing.

Edinburgh - QE's buff makes her stupidly tanky, add there Leander and she will tank like no tomorrow.

Belfast - Good synergy with QE, HE specialist.

Leander-kai - CL buff, smokescreen helps mitigate some damage from boss.

Sirius - CV\CVL-comp specialized cruiser, you cant use her at max power since you will need BB flagship for defence purposes, but you still can buff Akaga\Hiryuu-Soryuu\Enty\Lusty\Unicorn\Shohou\Ranger-kai with her and get her stats buffed with them.

Laffey-kai - More auto-friendly starter-DD.

Cleveland - Usually picked for her Raid Order, +25% fleet damage is no joke.

Wichita\Suffolk-kai\Chicago\Portland-kai\Houston\Elegant Kizuna AI - DPS\bullet-sponge CA picks.

Atago\Takao\Furutaka-kai\Kako-kai - Poverty picks if you dont have good CA. They are good, just dont fare well on auto, and torp CAs are kinda meh in general.

Prinz Eugen\Admiral Hipper - Desperation picks if you need shielded girl but dont have Roon.
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EQUIPMENT CHOICE FOR W10:

1) Fire extinguisher - Absolute must-have aux equip on a trashfleet flagship, and better-safe-than-sorry item on other backliners. Good item for 10-3 bossfight, since Yukikaze's minions shoot HE at your backline, setting them on fire. Enemy's backline salvos are too devastating no matter where it will hit you, mostly because of non-interrupted fire ticks. FE, even though its blue-tier equip, gives you large amount of survivability vs those salvos. Especially potent with Amagi in fleet.

2) AP gun vs. HE gun on CA - Piercing mechanic is actually a bait, but it can work if you're fielding solo CA like port-kai, enemy will group up on you because of your slow clear, and it will pierce them more reliably. Still, HE guns have better rate of fire, more reliable shell efficiency, and it helps with destroying light-armored minions fast.

3) Converging torpedo bombers(Tenzan, Ryuusei) on healer CVL - CVL starts to fall-off on W10 and above in terms of land-damage, and conventional use of cuda start to fall-off too. Main reason to use converging torps on Unicorn\Shohou is to maximize their damage output on elites like CA\BB\BC\CV, so you will have less chances to take another salvo from them if your BB will miss whole salvo\low roll on damage. There are drawbacks too, AI aiming on converging torps is so dumb it can aim at the nearest moving target, whiffing the drop completely.

4) 381mm mk2 vs. 406mm mk6 vs. 410mm twin on BB\BC - 406mk6 offers best damage per salvo out of 3, netting you the best chance to one-tap enemy elites, but you pay for it with gun-response. 381mm mk2 is another extreme way of clearing, you just abuse its rate of fire to clear whole map faster, although general use of it is on barrage-BB\BCs, to proc it more reliably per battle. 410mm is somewhat in-between, it cannot one-tap elite, and dont offer much impact in battle, but its a good filler gun for barrage-BBs or if you feel like you're too late on Nagato\Mutsu spawns with 406mk6 and cannot afford 381mk2.

5) Aux choice for backline ships - While FE usage is given to make your clear as smooth as possible, you want to maximize your chances to not get hit by backline salvos as much as possible. SG-Radar is good aux for BBs, it provides you with evasion and hit-stat, giving you ability to evade ambushes better too. There is an option to give backliners toolbox too, but atleast 1 SG on backline is mandatory.

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OTHER TIPS:
W10 is notorious to have Nagato in almost every trash-node. She always aim at the area around your flagship, and shoots salvos that have very high chance to ignite the target on hit. Fire tick damage is HUGE in w10, so either bring fire extinguisher on your flagship or you can use 2BB backline and swap flagship around when your first flagship's HP bar will get shafted too much.

W10 is 6 battles before bossnode. You will fight atleast 1 node at 0 ammo if you wont bring AR with you, so last trash node will always be the challenge. You can cheese it by taking barrage boat like Hood or Tirpitz who doesnt get that much damage penalty on 0 ammo. AR works too, but your overall clear speed (which is vital in W10, faster you kill Nagato - less damage you take in trash nodes) will fall down with AR. Use it with caution.

Triple stars\Tri-force BB nodes are VERY STRONG. Strongly adviced to avoid those at all costs\clear them first if you have no other choice but to fight. If your starting point got blocked by large amount of triforce BB nodes - retreat from map and start the chapter again, reroll your map.

Another cheese strat is to reroll current battle in case of impeding doom of a run. Hit pause button, hit retreat from battle. It will reset battle results and your fleet will stay on the map without taking any damage from this battle, but you will lose 2 morale and oil equal to your number of ships in fleet. It doesnt free you from the next battle-starting oilcost though, so use it in emergency only.

Yet another cheese strat is to add some cheap 0lb DD with pearl equipped to boost your trash-fleet surviveability. You can equip her with SG too to have better chances to evade the ambush.